Archive for September, 2007

The day began by picking up SirLoinofBeef at his house at 6:00 AM. We had originally planned a fourth attempt at finding the elusive Davenport Hill. However, with forecasts for rain and thunderstorms, we decided to attempt Mount Raymond from the Butler Fork Trailhead. While, Mount Raymond (10,241 feet) is higher in elevation than Davenport Hill (10,120 feet), the Butler Fork Trail is relatively sheltered from the possibility of a lightning strike. In addition, just like the show starring Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton and the late Peter Boyle, everyone will find something to love about this hike. The actual hike began in Big Cottonwood Canyon (BCC) at the Butler Fork Trailhead (7,120 feet). We hiked the first 20-30 minutes in relative darkness (not recommended) thus allowing us to enjoy the first light of day including beautiful Alpenglow highlighting the peaks of the South side of BCC. After gaining Baker Pass, betwen Mount Raymond and Gobbler’s Knob, we took the trail leading steeply to the ridgeline of Mount Raymond. While on the ridgeline, I somehow managed to bump my head on a not so Limber Pine (Pinus Flexilis) leading to much whining and cursing. After a scramble along the rocky ridgline, we reached the peak. At the rocky peak of Mount Raymond, we both enjoyed a tasty BaconCheeseburger from Shivers (3063 East, 3300 South, Salt Lake City). Mount Raymond provides excellent views of much of the Wasatch Range. After leisurely eating our Cheeseburgers, we descended the ridgeline and the Baker Pass Trail back to the truck for a roundtrip of ~7.5 miles in distance and 3,140 feet of elevation gain.

On the 10 year anniversary of the tragic death of Princess Diana, we (OldBull, SirloinOfBeef, FlyingElvis, SamIAm, KrustyBunz and Wimpy) decided to honor her memory by bagging another Cheeseburger Summit. Knowing that Princess Di was not only a hardy hiker, but also a secret lover of Cheeseburgers, we all felt that this would be a fitting tribute. Our original plan was to take the “Great Spirit” ski lift to the top of Fortification Mountain at the White Pine Ski Resort. Sadly while purchasing the requisite Cheeseburgers at the Sugar Shack in Pinedale, sustained rain and lightning forced us to reconsider. We all knew that the sky was crying in memory of Princess Di. The summit assault team gathered to discuss our options and decided upon a re-Summit of Trapper’s Point. While Trapper’s Point has been previously summited and Cheeseburgers consumed, we had 3 Newbies (SamIAm, KrustyBunz and Wimpy) in our group of six. We found Trapper’s Point easily and made our way from the Game Fence to the Summit. 6 delicious Sugar Shack Cheeseburgers were consumed and we all shared a group hug and a moment of silence for “the People’s Princess”.

A hearty SummitCheeseburger welcome to first time Cheeseburger summitteers: Sam-SamIAm and Craig-KrustyBunz.

With temperatures in the high 90’s, newbie Sadie (Farting Wonder) and I (Esterlinkage) conquered the mighty Van Cott on a blindingly sunny mid-day hike. We had done a trial hike the week before, but sadly did not have Cheeseburgers with us. We were determined to conquer the mighty peak again and get a Cheeseburger under our belts (or collar as the case may be). After a pleasant but very hot ascent, we enjoyed McDonald’s cheeseburger at the summit. The roll was quite tasty with the faint taste cheese, burger, pickle and ketchup. During our descent I pondered what the effect of a Cheeseburger would have on the digestive system on Farting Wonder to amuse myself. This distracted me, and of course, I made a wrong turn on the way down and ended up coming straight down the face toward Red Butte Garden. However, I did get to enjoy a nice view of the duck pond on this difficult trail.

Plenty of people hike in the Wind River Range in western Wyoming – but the majority of folks are attracted to one of the two major Gore-Tex magnets of the range; Island Lake/Titcomb Basin in the northern range and Cirque of the Towers in the southern range. But the range is a big place, and plenty of other destinations are worthy of a visit by either dayhikers or backpackers. For oldbull and sirloinofbeef, an annual extended (~30 mile) dayhike has been a way to see some of this less-explored territory. Past hikes have included:

Green River Lakes to Spring Creek trailhead via Summit Lake

A reconnoiter of the north face of Hooker Peak starting from the Big Sandy trailhead, hiking past Dads, Marms, and Skull Lakes, and two ascents (and descents) of Hailey Pass

Elkhart-to-Elkhart, a 36 mile loop beginning with a descent to Long Lake, an ascent to Glimpse lake and a long stroll past Trapper, Trail, Borham, Summit, Jean, Seneca, Hobbs, Barbara, and Eklund lakes, ending back at Elkhart Park (at 11:45 pm)

This year’s destination was changed in the last week before the hike. We had been discussing an day hike of Glover Peak starting out from New Fork Lakes trailhead. Thinking that might be too ambitious we changed plans to tackle Greeley Point. Really, we were plotting a loop beginning and ending at the Green River Lakes campground – starting up towards Porcupine Pass, continuing to Lozier Lakes, and coming back along the Green River. We threw in a short detour to Greeley Point as and excuse to gain a Cheeseburger summit. But the views from Greeley Point turned out to be the surprise, and high point, of the entire trip.

The hike up Porcupine Creek was the only part of the loop that none of us had seen before. This large, U-shaped drainage, obviously carved by glaciers, contained a number of long, open meadows with views of the mountains that overlooked the creek. We passed by Big Sheep (no Cheeseburger) and Battleship (no Cheeseburger) mountains on the trail up to Porcupine Pass. A beautifully crafted, switchbacked trail led to the top of the pass, and at the top we were treated to views down New Fork and Palmer Canyons. Looking back, we enjoyed a view of the entire length of Porcupine Creek, from the pass to Lower Green River Lake. Continuing on we descended 1500 ft towards the New Fork Trail. And then we ascended the same 1500 ft to the Lozier Lakes Basin.

For my taste, the Lozier Lake area is the most beautiful region of the Wind River Range. We were treated to tremendous views of the tallest peaks in the range with Gannett Peak, the high point of Wyoming, dominating the skyline and Peak Lake Basin directly in front of us. Peak Lake Basin, at the headwaters of the Green River, ends at Knapsack Col – and provides an interesting way to enter Titcomb Basin. Stroud, Sulfur, Twin, Ladd, and Winifred Peaks, Mount Whitecap and Split Mountain line the Basin.

After hiking through Lozier Lakes Basin we ascended another not-so-small pass that provides entry to Clark Lake and a descent to the Trail and Green Rivers. At the pass we turned a hard left to hike the last 200-300 ft up to the summit of Greeley Point. Oldbull led the way and let out a whoop at the summit. And as we joined him at the summit cairn we found out why he was so excited. With 360o views of mountains, lakes, and drainages, Greeley Point is a tremendous vantage point. If you’re hiking anywhere in the area you must take in this view. Wow!

After eating the nano-sized, feta-infused lamb burgers we descended nearly 3,000 ft to the Green River and a long march out to the Green River Lake Campground. While this portion of the hike was beautiful, we were tired and hurting from the 25+ miles we’d just hiked. By the time we reached the Upper Green River Lake we were firmly in death march mode. But the hike ended uneventfully with smiles all around. This hike was the best of the best.

A family visit to Telluride in Colorado led to a picnic lunch (with Cheeseburgers) on the summit of Coonskin Mountain. In a state that is home to 53 – 14,000 ft. peaks, Coonskin is sometimes overlooked despite the fact that it falls a mere 3,400 ft. short of this arbitrary mark. The ascent of Coonskin Mountain began with a descent from our condo to the Mountain Village Parking Lot Gondola Station. Two dinosaurs, two groovy girls, and a pink teddy bear, were among the hikers this fine August day. We first used the funicular, an oven like box that moves you to a ski run further from our destination, but we enjoyed the scenery. The first two legs of this journey were both downhill and we lost significant elevation (5 ft.) on the first gondola ride. The gondola transported us to the town of Mountain Village and then a second gondola took us to the top of Pandora and Milk Run (both Black Diamonds) and gained us 995ft (whew!!!).

At the top we paid a visit to the San Sophia Station Nature Center which was a short, pleasant hike up the hill. Here groovy was sadly eaten by a bear 🙂 during “ART” hour. All others escaped without significant injuries. Lars1 stumbled while fleeing and obtained a “Joe Simpson”-like injury that was rapidly repaired by a few well placed lips of Marion1.

The summit, as marked on USGS maps, is covered in debris from the ski resort so we wandered off the summit a small ways to a nice overlook of the town of Telluride. Here we pulled out the Cheeseburgers. The Cheeseburgers had been prepared earlier in the day from locally-raised, grass-fed beef. They were infused with bacon flavor crystals (leftover bacon crumbles) cooked right into the patty for a bacony taste explosion. Topped with Colby Jack and placed on a Sara Lee white, whole grain buns they were ready for action. In short order they were polished off to complete the second Colorado Cheeseburger summit. Kudos to all – get well soon, Groovy Girl.

For our end-of-summer getaway, my wife and I went camping at Ohiopyle State Park in southwestern Pennsylvania. Hiking, beautiful scenery, whitewater boating, and most importantly: two new summits in a new state!

Tharp Knob (8/28/2007)

With a pair of Cheeseburgers from the Firefly Grill, we drove out to the Tharp Knob Picnic Area. From there, we located signs indicating that a scenic overlook (specifically on the Kentuck Trail) was just up ahead – the summit! A short hike later and there we were – looking over the town of Ohiopyle from the top of Tharp Knob- 1902.89 feet up. Victory was sweet and the Cheeseburgers were tasty!

Sugarloaf Knob (8/29/2007)

The next day, after being thwarted in an attempt to go boating, we decided to try to tackle Sugarloaf – perhaps the highest point in the park at 2575.46 feet. (The park’s map says 2640 feet. You decide.) It seemed a little challenging at first – the snowmobile/cross-country skiing trail just circles the peak, rather than make much of any ascent. I found a path where it looked like someone else had bushwhacked it recently, and rushed in, making for a quick, if somewhat scratchy and sting-y summit – lots of thorns and prickly things on the way up, and we had neglected to wear long pants. Sugarloaf’s Cheeseburgers came from The Ohiopyle House Cafe – huge half pounders covered with provolone. We had to eat fast, because the flies were many and hungry.

There were also two other summits in the Ohiopyle vicinity we didn’t hit: Holland Hill, which seemed difficult to find (not near a trail or road as far as I could tell) , and Kentuck Knob, which arguably should have been easy, being available to the public, but closed when we tried to go – at 4:00pm on a Tuesday(??). Anyone else who finds themselves in SW PA is welcome to give them a try.

So I’m pleased to announce the induction (soon I hope) of another fellow summiteer, Chris Jones (witty trailhandle to come–may I suggest Indi–as in Indian Jones–as in “You call him Dr. Jones, doll”?). Anyhow, CJ and I set out from lab last Friday (August 24th) to scale Wire Mountain (I know, a repeat for myself). However I figured it’s near the lab, it would be easy to bag, and we could be back at work by 11. So, I’ll remind all of you that my last ascent was particularly ill conceived (a theme, I’m afraid to say), with a hasty retreat down the spine of the mountain having to be undertaken in the dark, but that beat going back into the forest with whatever was stalking me. Thus, we set out, and as Chris said “Thanks to the excellent navigation skills of John Muir over here…..” we ended up scaling Red Butte Mountain to the left of Wire in an attempt to see where we went wrong! Of course we didn’t actually know it was a proper summit or we would have bagged it with a burger (I was prepared with four patties). Instead we walked the spine and finally bagged Wire, at which point I offered Chris his very first summit cheese burger, a fine ground lamb concoction if I do say so. To his credit he overcame his initial skepticism and thoroughly enjoyed the burger. Another summit, another burger. Sorry no photos, camera batteries were dead (pretty much an overall Charlie Foxtrot on my part).